Day: March 19, 2018

In today’s episode of the “Life. Unrestricted.” podcast, I have the pleasure to bring to you my conversation with Dr. Michael P. Levine from Santa Barbara, California. Michael is an Emeritus Professor of Psychology who actively taught for 33 years. In the field of eating disorders, Michael’s commitment to research, writing, and activism focuses on the intersection between sociocultural risk factors, prevention, community psychology, and developmental psychology. He has authored two books and three prevention curriculum guides, and he has co-edited three books on prevention. In addition, he has authored or co-authored approximately 110 articles and book chapters, and he has presented his work throughout the United States, as well as in Canada, England, Spain, Austria, and Australia. He is a member of countless advisory councils such as The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), or the Center for Study of Anorexia and Bulimia (CSAB, NY), among others, and he has been awarded with awards for Leadership in Public Awareness and Advocacy, for Excellence in Eating Disorders Prevention and Awareness, a Research-Practice Partnership Award, and one for Lifetime Achievement. To this day, Dr. Michael P. Levine is an absolute expert in the field of eating disorders, and he is still working on informing people regarding research, advocacy and activism related to eating disorders prevention, body image, public health, dietetics/nutrition, community, health psychology and social work.
Listen in and hear Michael talk about:
– How his father influenced what he believed about the world, men, women and bodies
– What his first reaction was when he heard about feminism
– Why he became a feminist, and why he thinks that many men feel threatened by the idea of feminism
– Why feminism is as much for men as it is for women, as it should help all humans to liberate themselves from oppressive, gender-based ideals
– Why healing can only start when we start questioning the beliefs that we’re passed on to us
– How important it is to question our automatic assumptions about the world, our bodies, weight, and our worth
– Why we should all educate ourselves on the effect mass media has on us
– What “the third person phenomenon” is
– A good example of “the fundamental attribution error”
– How important it is to recognize that all of us are being influenced by the messages we see all day, no matter how much we might think that we’re “above that”
– Why the internet and social media can be the worst danger to our self-esteem AND a door to find people who help us to stay strong in recovery from all sorts of self-destructive behaviors
– Why it is important to learn that it’s totally ok to have to opposing thoughts in our head, and to learn that we don’t have to act on our negative thoughts (that tell us to restrict/overexercise, etc.)
– Why he loves the word “AND”
– Why he considers America’s “war on obesity” to be an absolute madness
– Why he thinks that how this society thinks about class, gender, race, health, age, etc. is only exacerbating the problem
– How we can create more resilience in ourselves against the onslaught of diet-culture messages and images
– How to make the best of the internet and social media and disregard what isn’t helpful for us
– What he means when he talks about “the mass media being a power tool”
– Why we so easily internalize ideas that we were raised with or exposed to, and why only by questioning whether we really agree with those ideas, we get a chance to change our mind and rise above harmful beliefs
– What you could do as “a radical act”
– Why, weirdly, body image issues are so intimate for people, and why it takes guts to honestly talk about them
– Why he thinks that if we would feel NO anxiety, and NO doubt on this journey, then we wouldn’t really be on it at all (because that’s what courage is about)…

… And so much more!

Michael is happy to answer any questions by email. You can reach him at:levine@kenyon.edu

Make sure to join my tribe and meet some of the most supportive, loving and kind people of all shapes and sizes, including great coaches and leaders! We’re right over here at: http://www.lifeunrestricted.org/join/